After experiencing an overall correction of about 50% from the fourth quarter of 2025 to the second quarter of 2026, as of September 23, 2026, a rare divergence emerged between fund behavior and price trends: Lookonchain monitoring showed that on that day, the U.S. Bitcoin ETF had a net inflow of 7,107 BTC, equivalent to about $609 million, and the cumulative net inflow over the past seven days reached 20,738 BTC, approximately $1.78 billion; on the same day, the U.S. Ethereum ETF had a net inflow of 67,597 ETH for the day, with a net inflow of 86,117 ETH over the past seven days, and this set of data has been cited and cross-verified by several media outlets including Odaily Planet Daily and PANews. The halving of prices should have suppressed risk appetite, but the institutional survey released by Bitwise on September 23 presented a contrasting picture: during this approximately 50% correction period, the heads of crypto asset allocations at 15 large institutions globally did not reduce their allocations, and some institutions chose to increase their positions instead. Overlaying this qualitative interview with the quantitative data of ETF fund flows reveals a clear main line— even after a deep pullback, leading institutions continue to have strong demand for allocating Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs during price dips, and this combination signal of "price decline, net fund inflow" constitutes the core contradiction in the current market structure.
After a 50% drop: Who is picking up the pieces?
From the fourth quarter of 2025 to the second quarter of 2026, the overall price in the crypto market fell by about 50%. In Bitwise's background description, this round of correction is classified as a significant level in crypto history, sufficient to constitute a complete "stress test": a halving of prices means that book losses, risk control red lines, and balance sheets are being pressured simultaneously. Logically deducing, weak hands, short-term funds, and high-leverage positions are more likely to be forced out. In such an environment, who is willing to take over the chips during a phase of liquidity contraction and increased volatility? It is no longer just a short-term emotional issue but a key clue to determining whether this asset class can traverse the cycle.
During this approximately 50% correction period, Bitwise conducted in-depth interviews with investment professionals responsible for crypto asset allocations at 15 large global institutions. Unlike large-sample questionnaires, this is a typical qualitative study: the sample size is limited, and key information such as the names, regions, and management sizes of the interviewed institutions was not disclosed, but the interview content focused on one core issue—how these individuals managing institutional funds perceive the long-term value of crypto assets and how they adjust allocation weights under extreme market conditions. Because the survey time was locked within this historical deep drop interval, Bitwise's report became a rare window to observe "who is picking up the pieces": it provided the latest qualitative signals regarding the long-term value of this asset class through the actual allocation choices of 15 large institutions, which had been tested through significant corrections.
7,107 BTC inflow: ETFs become the main player against the trend
If the Bitwise interviews reveal the "behind-the-scenes allocation attitudes," the ETF fund flows on September 23 represent the "on-stage real actions." Lookonchain monitoring data showed that on that day, the U.S. Bitcoin ETF had a net inflow of 7,107 BTC, worth approximately $609 million at that time; extending to nearly seven days, the cumulative net inflow of the U.S. Bitcoin ETF reached 20,738 BTC, approximately $1.78 billion. At the same time, the U.S. Ethereum ETF recorded a net inflow of 67,597 ETH for September 23, with a net inflow of 86,117 ETH over the past seven days. Several media outlets, including Odaily Planet Daily and PANews, cited this set of data from Lookonchain, indicating that these numbers are not isolated sources but rather a public consensus based on cross-verification from multiple institutions.
More importantly, this round of sustained net inflow did not occur during a euphoric period of historic price highs but appeared in the time window after approximately 50% declines from the fourth quarter of 2025 to the second quarter of 2026. The Bitwise report indicates that during this approximately 50% correction period, the large interviewed institutions did not reduce their crypto asset allocations; some even chose to increase their positions; and as of September 23, 2026, ETFs recorded a net inflow of over 20,000 BTC in the past seven days, with both factors combining to create a typical picture of "price decline, funds entering." Given that the report did not provide more data on whether ETF funds continued to realize net inflows after September 23, what can currently be confirmed is that after this historical correction, ETFs showed a contrary trend in absorbing Bitcoin funds at key points in time.
Ethereum ETF simultaneously attracting funds: 67,597 ETH entered
If the counter-trend net subscriptions of the Bitcoin ETF demonstrate a main line of "buying the dip," then the fund flow of the Ethereum ETF during the same period completes another half of the picture: "not only Bitcoin is being bought." Lookonchain monitoring data shows that on September 23, the U.S. Ethereum ETF had a net inflow of 67,597 ETH for the day, while the cumulative net inflow over the preceding seven trading days reached 86,117 ETH. This set of Ethereum ETF data has been cited by Odaily Planet Daily, PANews, and other media, forming a multi-source cross-validation of fund flow samples alongside the Bitcoin ETF's net inflow of 7,107 BTC for the day and 20,738 BTC over the past seven days.
Structurally, this means that funding has not been limited solely to Bitcoin but has spread along the lines of mainstream assets: at the same time, both Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs recorded sustained net inflows, indicating a pattern of multi-asset ETFs synchronously attracting funds. Combined with the conclusion from the Bitwise report that "interviewed institutions did not reduce allocations but some even increased their holdings during the approximately 50% correction period," the fact that the Ethereum ETF continues to see net inflows around September 23 further reinforces an important signal—that during this deep correction, institutional funds were not withdrawing overall from the crypto market, but rather reallocating risk assets by increasing positions in both Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs.
15 giants' statements: Not reducing holdings but increasing positions
Bitwise, through in-depth interviews, focused on investment professionals responsible for crypto asset allocation at 15 large global institutions, covering the timeframe from the fourth quarter of 2025 to the second quarter of 2026—coinciding with the "stress test period" during which the crypto market fell by about 50%. The report shows that during this round of approximately 50% correction, these interviewed institutions did not choose to reduce their holdings; overall crypto asset allocations remained stable, and some institutions actively increased their positions during the price decline, enlarging their exposure to the relevant assets. This kind of "not reducing during the drop, with partial increases" operation is clearly different from typical chasing-high allocations and is more reminiscent of a behavior model set up in advance to rebalance according to predetermined target weights within a medium to long-term or strategic allocation framework.
However, from a data dimension, this survey itself has clear boundaries. The sample consists of only 15 large institutions, typical of qualitative research; the report neither disclosed the specific names of the interviewed institutions nor provided critical information such as geographical distribution or asset management sizes, making it impossible to confirm the sample's representativeness in type and region. Furthermore, due to its conclusions concentrating on "not reducing allocations, with some increasing holdings," it is difficult to simply extrapolate this pattern as "all institutions are increasing positions during the dip." With the current available information, a more prudent interpretation is that some leading institutions in the Bitwise sample demonstrated endurance and execution capacity leaning toward medium to long-term allocation during the approximately 50% correction period, but this is merely an important sample rather than a statistical conclusion regarding institutional behavior overall.
Prices fall, funds enter: The next step for the institutional era
By tying together the conclusions from Bitwise's interviews with ETF fund flows, a clear signal emerges: after approximately 50% deep corrections from the fourth quarter of 2025 to the second quarter of 2026, as of September 23, 2026, U.S. Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs are still continuously attracting funds— with Bitcoin ETFs showing a net inflow of 20,738 BTC over the past seven days (including 7,107 BTC for the single day of September 23) and Ethereum ETFs showing a net inflow of 86,117 ETH over the past seven days (with 67,597 ETH for the single day of September 23), while the 15 large institutions in the Bitwise sample maintained their allocations during this correction period, with some even choosing to increase their positions. This divergence of "prices falling, funds entering" appears more indicative of adjustments in allocation frameworks: some institutions begin to incorporate crypto assets into medium to long-term asset allocation perspectives, reconstructing positions through pullbacks, rather than merely treating them as instruments for opportunistic trading. It is important to emphasize that all current observations are confined to the snapshot of September 23, 2026, the sample size is limited, and further data supporting ETF fund flows has not yet been available; therefore, whether this divergence is a temporary action by a minority of early adopters or a new normal in the institutional era remains to be verified through continuous tracking of ETF subscription and redemption data and more institutional survey results in the coming quarters.
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